In a pre-budget meeting with state additional chief secretary Prabhat Mishra and his team, CREDAI West Bengal president Sushil Mohta and CREDAI Kolkata president Apurva Salarpuria submitted targeted suggestions to unlock land, speed up planned urbanisation, and improve housing affordability across Bengal. They said structural bottlenecks are preventing large, integrated developments and that policy certainty is needed to attract long-term private and foreign investment.
Key Recommendations
A key recommendation was easing land ceiling limits to make larger contiguous parcels available for gated communities, mini townships, and mixed-use projects with lifestyle amenities and sizable commercial and retail components. CREDAI said rationalised ceilings would enable townships, large housing projects, commercial and industrial hubs, and IT parks at scale.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya had earlier said the government was looking at scrapping the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act 1976.
Comprehensive Township Policy
Mohta and Salarpuria sought a comprehensive township and land policy like those of Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat. They also proposed scaling in-situ redevelopment and slum rehabilitation via public-private partnerships (PPPs), backed by transferable development rights (TDR), enhanced floor area ratio (FAR) and floor space index (FSI), free-sale components, cross-subsidy, fast-track approvals, and selective fee exemptions, aiming for a slum-free Kolkata.
Issues with Land Records
The duo also flagged issues around ‘barga' entries, saying it has been incorrectly recorded on lands where cultivation has not occurred for years and records have not been updated. On valuation and Inspector General of Registration (IGR), CREDAI sought rationalisation of the 80:20 residential-commercial approach and a shift from 'karkhana to bastu' to 'bastu to bastu' basis, with moderated multipliers on karkhana properties.
